Whenever I am working with clients, it is very typical that no one has experience being photographed or posing in front of a camera. For some, that can be very intimidating or make you super nervous for your session. For others, they just don’t love being photographed (hey grooms!) and that is all normal and okay. It is my job and joy to be able to put my clients at ease, pose them in ways that are authentic, and ultimately have an enjoyable experience in front of my camera. Over the years, I have learned some tips and tricks to get everyone relaxed and to capture true smiles and personalities at your engagement session and wedding. I’m sharing some of those below so that you know what to expect!
Introduction: At the beginning of each engagement session, I will introduce myself (if we haven’t met in person yet) and talk you through what we will be doing together and where we will be going. Throughout the entire session, I will be instructing, posing, and guiding you along so you do not have to worry about being awkward or not knowing what to do. I also explain that I shoot on two different cameras and that we might be doing a lot of the same “actions” more than once so that I can capture it on both. That doesn’t mean you aren’t doing great, it just gives me more opportunities to get the in-between moments on camera when your true personalities shine.
Actions: The easiest way to capture authentic images is with movement. Typically we will start the session with some action shots. This gets everyone warmed up and ready for the rest of the session. Oftentimes, this is when I ask you to slow dance, walk hand in hand all the while giving you instructions to look back at me, or look at each other and even go in for a kiss at the end of a path. When you are doing something other than just staring at the camera and smiling, it is easier to get a real reaction out of you and that is the goal with action shots!
Whispering: Another way to capture authentic images is by asking you to whisper something silly or romantic into each other’s ears. This is a fun one for me because it is always funny to see what gets whispered. For example, I might say whisper into her ear, what you think is her favorite dessert and we will see if you are right. Usually, if you are right or wrong we get some giggles out of it depending on the accuracy and how ridiculous the moment feels and that is my goal! Anything to loosen everyone up and to get some laughter out of it. I may ask several more questions throughout the session and it is just fun to see how well you know each other.
Touching: It’s really important that in most of the shots, there is some sort of touching. It creates connection in the images and is something I will always instruct you to do. Whether it is hand-holding or hugging, we always want to be connected in some way or another and this helps make your images more authentic.
Posing: I like to keep a loose structure when it comes to posing so that not everyone’s session looks the same. I want your session to represent who you both are and not be a cookie-cutter experience. I have a handful of typical poses we will walk through during our time together but sometimes a pose doesn’t look right for a specific couple and that is totally fine. We will laugh it off and pose you in a way that fits better. This is also an opportunity for you to just be yourselves. By the end of the session, I might ask you to pick one of your favorite poses we did or even suggest you make one up on your own based on how you like to spend your time together. These are some of my favorites because everyone has settled in and is more comfortable allowing them to be themselves in front of the camera.
